As the Buffalo News notes, Ambiences has received praise for a similar project in Quebec City, which was originally planned as a one-time show, but was adopted as an annual light show because of its success.

The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., which oversees the development of the Buffalo waterfront, has come up with the plan, and they’ve enlisted Ambiances Design Production to do the lighting work. As the Buffalo News notes, Ambiances has received praise for a similar project in Quebec City, which was originally planned as a one-time show, but was adopted as an annual light show because of its success. Part of what makes Ambiences’ work unique is that it involves narrative storytelling, and it could be used to tell Buffalo’s stories.

Buffalo’s civic leaders think that could be key to drawing tourists to the reenergized Outer Harbor and Silo City areas. “People have talked for years about getting some of the people who go to Niagara Falls. Well, this is the type of thing, because of the spectacle of it, and because the Buffalo grain elevators are so otherworldly, that will get people down here,” preservationist Tim Tielman told the Buffalo News.

The first phase of the project will involve lighting a couple of large grain elevators near the waterfront, along with the underside of the Skyway and the Michigan and Ohio street bridges. The second phase would involve illuminating a total of 14 grain elevators, and incorporating fire, pyrotechnics and 3D video projection on the side of the Connecting Terminal grain elevator, which is located just at the edge of the recently-revitalized Buffalo Harbor.